n. | 1. | A shoe or clog, as of iron, attached to a chain, and placed under the wheel of a wagon to prevent its turning when descending a steep hill; a drag; a skidpan; also, by extension, a hook attached to a chain, and used for the same purpose. |
| 2. | (Naut.) A piece of timber used as a support, or to receive pressure. |
| 3. | (Aëronautics) A runner (one or two) under some flying machines, used for landing. |
| 4. | A low movable platform for supporting heavy items to be transported, typically of two layers, and having a space between the layers into which the fork of a fork lift can be inserted; it is used to conveniently transport heavy objects by means of a fork lift; - a skid without wheels is the same as a pallet. |
| 5. | Declining fortunes; a movement toward defeat or downfall; - used mostly in the phrase on the skids and hit the skids. |
| 6. | Act of skidding; - called also side slip. |
v. t. | 1. | To protect or support with a skid or skids; also, to cause to move on skids. |
| 2. | To check with a skid, as wagon wheels. |
| 3. | (Forestry) To haul (logs) to a skid and load on a skidway. |
v. i. | 1. | To slide without rotating; - said of a wheel held from turning while the vehicle moves onward. |
| 2. | To fail to grip the roadway; specif., to slip sideways on the road; to side-slip; - said esp. of a cycle or automobile. |